Historical instructor

MICHAEL SWIFT

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.95/5 from 19 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

COMPSCI 537
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
He seems like a nice guy and is passionate about what he teaches. The projects in OS are pretty bad but the course content is interesting and presented well. The exams are also not hard and very manageable.
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COMPSCI 537
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
good course but covers a lot of material and exams are hard. textbook is really good. mike swift is chill and is good at answering questions.
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COMPSCI 537
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
A lot of people say that you should take OS with a certain professor, but I really don't think professors matter. OSTEP is genuinely the best textbook I've ever read. It explains things so clearly, and even though it is now very much outdated/wrong on some parts (ex: modern SSDs and data races), I highly recommend to just read the book for CS537.
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COMPSCI 537
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Swift clearly knows what he's talking about and is passionate about the topic. It's a lot of work but well worth the time. Definitely recommend!
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with MICHAEL SWIFT

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026COMPSCI 537Introduction to Operating Systems
Spring 2026COMPSCI 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2026COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2026COMPSCI 702Graduate Cooperative Education
Spring 2026COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2026COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2025COMPSCI 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2025COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2025COMPSCI 702Graduate Cooperative Education
Fall 2025COMPSCI 736Advanced Operating Systems
Fall 2025COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2025COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2025COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2025COMPSCI 537Introduction to Operating Systems
Spring 2025COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2025COMPSCI 702Graduate Cooperative Education
Spring 2025COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2025COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2025COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2024COMPSCI 739Distributed Systems
Fall 2024COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2024COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2024COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2024COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2024COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2024COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2023COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2023COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2023COMPSCI 537Introduction to Operating Systems
Spring 2023COMPSCI 702Graduate Cooperative Education
Spring 2023COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2023COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2023COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2022COMPSCI 702Graduate Cooperative Education
Fall 2022COMPSCI 736Advanced Operating Systems
Fall 2022COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2022COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2022COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2022COMPSCI 537Introduction to Operating Systems
Spring 2022COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2022COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2022COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2021COMPSCI 368Learning a Programming Language
Fall 2021COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2021COMPSCI 839Core Topics in Computing
Fall 2021COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2021COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2020COMPSCI 537Introduction to Operating Systems
Fall 2020COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2020COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2020COMPSCI 298Directed Study in Computer Science
Spring 2020COMPSCI 368Learning a Programming Language
Spring 2020COMPSCI 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2020COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2020COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2020COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2020COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2019COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2019COMPSCI 739Distributed Systems
Fall 2019COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2019COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2019COMPSCI 642Introduction to Information Security
Spring 2019COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2019COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2018COMPSCI 736Advanced Operating Systems
Fall 2018COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2018COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2018COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2018COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2018COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2017COMPSCI 537Introduction to Operating Systems
Fall 2017COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2017COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2017COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2017COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2017COMPSCI 736Advanced Operating Systems
Spring 2017COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2017COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2016COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2016COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2016COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2016COMPSCI 736Advanced Operating Systems
Spring 2016COMPSCI 790Master's Thesis
Spring 2016COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2016COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research
Fall 2015COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2015COMPSCI 790Master's Thesis
Fall 2015COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2015COMPSCI 900Advanced Seminar in Computer Science
Fall 2015COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2015COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research
Spring 2015COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2015COMPSCI 736Advanced Operating Systems
Spring 2015COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2015COMPSCI 900Advanced Seminar in Computer Science
Spring 2015COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2014COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2014COMPSCI 739Distributed Systems
Fall 2014COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2014COMPSCI 990Dissertation

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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